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Wed, 09 May 2012 15:49:35 GMT

Breaking News Summary. Politicians up Murdoch's arse

National Vaccine Policy comes in for severe criticism from experts

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:44:04 GMT

The National Vaccine Policy, announced by the Union health ministry last year, has come in for severe criticism from experts. They have termed that the government has fallen trap to the same �global� slogans of the World Bank that has pushed the world into recession and the aid politics of Gates Foundation, WHO and Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). In an article in 'Current Science', Dr N Raghuram, associate professor, School of Biotechnology, GGS Indraprastha University, New Delhi and Dr Y Madhavi, NISTADS, Pusa, New Delhi have said that the government policy pays lip service to several important issues such as criteria for new vaccine introduction into UIP, including the Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system, strengthening the surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD) and Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI), operational efficiency, etc. �Clearly, this vaccine policy is not designed to enhance national public capacities for public immunization programmes, but to justify spending public money on privately produced vaccines in the name of protection from diseases, whose incidence figures and public health statistics are dubious and industry-manufactured. In its eagerness to push vaccines, this policy completely missed the very idea of selective immunization and implies that all immunization is universal,� the article says.
Ramesh Shankar, Pharmabiz

Daughter's illness linked to Gardasil vaccine

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:42:57 GMT

Two months ago, Jessica Lock was a typical 13-year-old - outgoing, healthy and happy. Yet now she is a stranger in her own home, racked by an array of mysterious ailments. A week after being administered in February with the anti-cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil at her school, the teenager began fainting and experiencing strong head pains - and her parents say she has lapsed into a semi-permanent, child-like state. Mother Shelley Lock believes her daughter suffered a severe reaction to Gardasil but said public hospital staff had been unwilling to examine a link, with one doctor inferring Jessica's condition was psychosomatic. "It is frustrating because she was completely healthy before this, she had no stress, had just started Year 8 and was meeting new friends, has a good family, so to have it inferred that it was just stress or psychological was very frustrating," Mrs Lock said. Exhaustive tests ruled out other potential causes such as brain tumours. However, Jessica's condition continued to deteriorate.
Andrew Dowdell, Adelaide Now

Here Comes OpenLeaks: How It Won't Be WikiLeaks

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:40:53 GMT

Almost exactly a year ago I spoke via email with ex-WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg. He and the four or five others who'd defected from WikiLeaks in September of 2010 were already at work on OpenLeaks, a successor organization with the same basic goal: to maintain a secure platform where sensitive documents of interest to the public can be uploaded by whistleblowers and anonymously distributed to the press. I was able to meet and speak at length with Daniel, and learned a ton about OpenLeaks and the future of whistleblowing. Domscheit-Berg's presentation on the second day of the conference was mobbed, and the audience was focused, attentive and respectful. This makes quite a change from his circumstances eighteen months ago; when he left WikiLeaks, he was almost instantly pilloried in the media and in the hacker community, owing in large part to the high regard in which Julian Assange, the original founder of WikiLeaks, was held at that time. But what if the "former employee" had very good reasons for being disgruntled? To my mind, the real upshot of the Cablegate debacle was that it put paid to the likelihood of anyone's sharing so much as the contents of a fortune cookie with Julian Assange ever again. Now OpenLeaks is just about ready to launch.
Maria Bustillos, The Awl

BRING A TENT - Occupy London strikes back - 12 May

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:36:23 GMT

12 May, global day of action, 1pm, St Paul's Cathedral. Bring a tent. The 'Map of the 1%' by Occupy London will be available on the day. A draft list can be found here. On 12 May, the Occupy, indignados and take the squares movements all over the world have called for a global day of action. In London we'll be visiting the '1%', those who: gambled with our pensions and savings, created financial nonsense to make money out of thin air, brought the global economy to the brink of ruin and forced ordinary people to pay for their mess, paid hundreds of thousands to wine and dine with our �elected� representatives, have taken more than �1tn in bailouts from the taxpayer and continue to pay themselves exorbitant bonuses, evaded billions in taxes, are benefiting by the crisis by grabbing fat privatisation contracts of our public services. The day will see citizens using peaceful, creative ways to deliver their own messages to the financial and corporate elite of the City. We will continue to exercise our right to peacefully assemble in public spaces and develop the democratic processes to address the problems we face. Important: To receive free notifications on the day via sms text `follow @occupymay`to 86444. (Do not include the quotation marks`).
Information Release, Occupy London

Security Guards Short-Listed For DLA To PIP Medical Contracts

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:24:13 GMT

In this edition we have news that international security companies are fighting for the chance to do your disability living allowance (DLA) to personal independence payment (PIP) medical and win a share of a billion pound pot. We can also reveal the outrageous lack of digital tape machines for recording employment and support (ESA) medicals and we learn what IDS really thinks of Remploy workers. PIP is due to begin replacing DLA for working age claimants from spring next year, with all current DLA claimants having to be reassessed for the new benefit. The contracts for PIP medicals are worth up to a billion pounds in total and have attracted the attention of many multinational companies. Many thanks to everyone who has sent in news stories over the last fortnight, including: Beverley Hymers, John Pring, Jim Allison, papasmurf, Crazydiamond.
Steve Donnison, Benefits and Work

Welfare Reform Bill Scandal

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:18:59 GMT

As the utterly callous ConDem government forces the disabled and disadvantaged in Britain to pay for the mistakes of the politicians and bankers, human death and destruction follows the progression of the Welfare Reform Bill. From writer Paul Reekie driven to suicide, ghastly errors made by Atos to Britons on the breadline, the consequences of having price-of-milk ignorant posh boys running the country into the ground mount daily.
Information Release, The One Click Group

Crowd-funding legal actions (Metropolitan Police)

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:15:15 GMT

Wow. A lot of people want to see the Met police in court. I had an unpleasant surprise on Wednesday night that my legal excess bill was not small change. (The rest is covered by legal aid, but this bit is non-negotiable) and I need to pay �550 before the end of the month. Sarah J from the Bad Reputation suggested crowd funding, so I put together a Facebook group called �I�ll Give Hannah a Tenner to see the Met in Court�. I was looking for 55 people to pledge a tenner, which would be refunded (as all my legal fees would be) if I win � but if I lose the case then, sorry, thank you for your charity. It went to a good cause. I made a group with this copy: Hannah was arrested, handcuffed and held in a police station on the day of the royal wedding because she was dressed like a zombie (for a flashmob) which police had decided was an anti-royalist statement. She hadn�t broken any laws and was in a Starbucks, queuing to buy a coffee at the time. She and fourteen others arrested pre-emptively (i.e. illegally) have won the right to a Judicial Review. However, even with legal aid she�s got a few costs that can�t be shirked. She�s looking for 55 people to donate a tenner � which will be refunded if she wins the case. And I tweeted and Facebooked it � as did my friends. I was expecting some friends to support it, and maybe even a couple of activists with� ahem� history with the Met. I was thinking even half the costs would be a huge help. You, good people, did not disappoint. Within 24 hours I had more money pledged than I was asking for. Thank you so much, you have no idea. It�s a huge help financially, obviously � it�s also hugely heartening and touching that so many people want to help so much. From the bottom of my heart, thank you everyone.
Hannah 'Chutzpah' Eiseman-Renyard, Firing from a Double-Barrel

ME is comparable to AIDS, so why do so many people still deny it ...

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:13:31 GMT

Like millions of others, I have seen M.E. through the eyes of the medical establishment, the Government and the Media. The picture has not been good. Here is what I have previously understood about M.E. and those who have it. M.E. sufferers are workshy malingerers. They whine, constantly, about feeling tired. They are annoying sympathy seekers. Oh, and mostly, importantly, M.E. is 'all in the head' and can be overcome with a bit more determination and a little less of the 'poor me' attitude. That, generally, is what I thought about M.E. Until, that is, a reader sent me a DVD of a British-made film about the illness titled 'Voices From The Shadows'. So, for M.E. Awareness Week, let us be clear. M.E. is comparable to AIDS and cancer and all the other vicious and uncompromising diseases that savage the body and, in some extreme cases, kill it completely. The fact that it is still so widely misunderstood is a modern day travesty that must be addressed without further delay. Or is it convenient that we still view M.E. as being 'all in the mind'? I believe that we, as a nation, deserve to know the truth. Not only for those still battling the disease, but for those poor souls who have already been lost to it.
Sonia Poulton, Daily Mail

Demand the right to know what you are eating

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:07:08 GMT

Unfortunately, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are currently in many of our staple foods such as soybeans, corn, and sugar beets. Therefore, the foods you are presently buying at your local grocery store do contain genetically engineered ingredients. A genetically modified organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The genetic material from one species is taken and then inserted into the permanent genetic code of another. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. The safety of humans, animals, and our environment are threatened by this untested manipulation of foods produced for consumption and contaminating our food supply and environment. There have been many studies showing the harm that genetically modified organisms can cause, such as cancer, allergies, impaired DNA function, and accumulated toxins, to humans and animals. Consumers have the right to be fully informed about the foods and drinks they consume. Demand full disclosure of all food products sold in America. Put pressure on the U.S. FDA to require mandatory labeling domestically and to represent U.S. consumers� wishes at Codex by correcting FDA�s position and ending its close alignment with industry groups.
Cheri Tips,News Release, National Health Federation

Government promotes companies set to profit from disability

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:43:05 GMT

The Department for Work and Pensions has just announced the 10 private companies on the shortlist to deliver the personal independence payment (PIP) assessments, which everyone receiving disability living allowance will have to undergo from next year when DLA is replaced by PIPs. With 3.2 million captive customers, not to mention a monopoly on all new claimants, it's not hard to see the appeal of the contract for profit-hungry companies untroubled by the ethics of slashing 20% from the money provided to disabled people to help them meet some of the basic expenses that living with a disability inevitably incurs. Take Atos, for example, the French multinational, responsible for handling the deeply flawed work capability assessments. Despite huge levels of criticism from individuals and charities that the test is not "fit for purpose", widespread inaccuracies in the assessment process (40% of appeals against Atos decisions are successful), and extensive anecdotal reports of farcical levels of incompetence on the part of the assessors, the DWP has shortlisted Atos for the contract to deliver PIP assessments in every available region. And then there's the outsourcing giant, Serco, excluded from the Norwegian government's investment portfolio because of its involvement in nuclear arms. Serco is shortlisted by the British government to provide "independent" assessments of disabled people. Personally, I'd very much rather my contributions went towards supporting some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society than into the coffers of companies such as these.
Clare Allan, The Guardian

Murdoch not fit to run an international company

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:39:16 GMT

It�s been 10 years, 1 month and nine days since the News of the World hacked Milly Dowler�s phone. Five days ago Rupert Murdoch admitted there was a cover up at News Corporation. We found that News Corporation carried out an extensive cover-up of its rampant lawbreaking. It�s most senior executives repeatedly misled Parliament and the two men at the top, Rupert and James Murdoch � who were in charge of the company � must now answer for that. In the view of the majority of committee members Rupert Murdoch is not fit to run and international company like BSkyB. I�m disappointed that some members didn�t feel sufficiently convinced or confident to hold the most powerful to account. It is my personal view that we should embark on an investigation into the relationship between ministers, special advisers and lobbyists working for News International and BSkyB. They brought shame on our police force and our Parliament. One Click Note: Tom Watson says that the media has brought shame on our police force as if it is no fault of their own, that when the police were bribed they simply couldn't help themselves despite having taken an oath to uphold the law. Such bollox. The electorate will never wear it. Although Murdoch's activities are being meticulously exposed, the Establishment is deluded if it believes that hanging Murdoch companies out to dry will be sufficient to douse what all the rest of the media and those in public office have been up to for years. WHY are the Motorman files not being placed in the public domain? THIS is the Establishment cover-up scandal that refuses to die.
Tom Watson MP

Britain's Tory Party government still terrified of Murdoch

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:38:08 GMT

Well, well, well. The Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport has issued its report on phone-hacking and it�s very critical of the Digger. But guess what? The MPs on the Committee are divided, with the Tories balking at attacking the Sun King. The Guardian has a lovely infographic which nicely captures the extent of their terror.
John Naughton, Memex 1.1

Investment Banks & Financial Maths

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:36:57 GMT

Investment bankers are to blame for the credit crunch that has beggared nations, but what about financial mathematicians? As the result of the credit crunch, most workers in the UK are watching their real incomes fall and their pension rights eroded. Those out of work have little prospect of finding a job in the foreseeable future. There is a big squeeze in expenditure on education, health, welfare, and almost every essential service we have come to expect the state to provide. Worst of all, young people finishing their education are finding it very hard to get started in the jobs market. By the end of the first quarter in 2012, UK is back in recession. Meanwhile, the bankers largely responsible for what has happened, and who would be out of business if the taxpayers hadn�t handed over �90 billion to bail them out continue to draw huge salaries with bonuses on top. Why should those who are the most responsible for the financial disaster continue to see their standard of living rise year by year when the rest of us get poorer and poorer? Ever since the deregulation �Big Bang� of 1986, the UK economy has become more and more dependent on financial services. Successive governments have talked about promoting industry but it has been the City that got what it wanted, including the �light touch� regulation that encouraged the bubble to expand so dangerously. However much the doyens of financial mathematics like to absolve themselves from blame, they bear major responsibility for providing the tools that enable one group of people (themselves included) to get prodigiously rich and beggar the rest of society. It is time for aspiring mathematicians to wake up and consider their social responsibility and ideals as well as the beauty of mathematics. If financial bankers are losing their jobs, there certainly are not going to be many more jobs in financial mathematics either.
Prof. Peter Saunders and Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, Institute of Science in Society

Protest: Abolish the Corrupt IPCC � Resounding Success

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:35:37 GMT

I had the privilege to attend the protest � Abolish the Corrupt IPCC. By some standards, it was attended by only a small crowd of people, but I felt that despite the size it was the most effective I�d attended. It was a resounding success. Speeches were made by numerous people who were victims of criminal police and who then testified that they received no satisfaction from their complaints to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). These included: deaths in custody, beatings, failure to investigate effectively, corruption and falsifying evidence. Victims of rape were represented, women and girls who despite experiencing this heinous crime, received no justice. After being failed by the police they were subsequently failed by the IPCC. Imagine it, being violated in that way, fighting for justice and yet the fiend walks free!
Dave Knight, Human Rights Blog

Bow resident seeks to evict London Olympics missile base

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:30:41 GMT

The owner of a flats complex to be used as an army missile base during the London Olympics is facing a legal challenge over its decision to lease roof space to the military. A resident of the Bow Quarter estate is challenging the legality of a deal between the company that owns the freehold and the Ministry of Defence to site a battery of surface-to-air missiles to guard against potential airborne terrorist attacks. "We have appointed lawyers with a view to making a legal challenge to the management company's decision to allow the MoD to install the rockets here," said Brian Whelan, a resident. "They didn't consult with us and they have neglected their duty to ask the residents' opinions about this." Some residents fear the high-velocity missile system, to be fitted on a water tower with clear views of the skies above the Olympic park, could make the complex more vulnerable to attack. Ten soldiers will operate the weapons at all times, possibly with armed police protection. In all, 51 different police forces are now sending officers to support Olympic security; 12,500 police will be involved in the Games, and 13,500 members or the armed forces.
Robert Booth and Nick Hopkins, The Guardian

One Click Stats, April 2012

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:08:37 GMT

We provide our readers with the top fifteen documents and articles read/downloaded by thousands of people from all over the globe during April 2012. The News Archives are the most regularly accessed item on this site. This website not only contains the News Archives that carry the topical published items of the day, it also carries many, many documents. From academic papers, articles, case histories, legal issues, government documents, video links and more besides, we carry a great deal of information that grows every day. Although only very recently published, storming up the ranks this month have been Treating sinusitis: Politically incorrect drug resistance due to Pneumococcal vaccine followed by Polio programme: let us declare victory and move on. Happy reading to all.
Information Release, The One Click Group

American Medicine--No Trace of Compassionate Care

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:07:56 GMT

Three reports in this week's New York Times document the magnitude of harm produced by America's profit-driven, healthcare system affecting--not only the uninsured poor--but affecting all but today's Robber Barons, the .001% of Americans--who are being mistreated and pick-pocketed. The commercialization of American Medicine has obliterated medicine's humanitarian mission, adopting a rapacious business model. Medical institutions are now being run as disreputable for-profit businesses. Patients entering a hospital emergency room in need of medical care are being abused, detained and grilled, as if they were criminal suspects. Healthcare providers and insurers, in the pursuit of increased profits, have resorted to ruthless tactics befitting Mafia enforcers or loan sharks, when interfacing with patients. Insurance carriers are denying insured "middle class" taxpayers their paid-for entitlements by changing the reimbursement rates. Hospitals, in turn, are demanding pre-payment from patients at the point of admission--the Emergency Room. And, hospitals are hiring mercenary collection agencies--such as Accretive--whose agents run amok on hospital floors indistinguishable from hospital staff, terrorizing patients with demands for payment. The Times reports that: Accretive is one of the few companies specializing in hospital debt collection that is publicly traded. Last year, it reported $29.2 million in profit, up 130 percent from a year earlier.
Vera Sharav, AHRP

India Serves Up Deadly Vaccines Cocktail

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:06:42 GMT

Ignoring widespread concern over the safety, efficacy and cost of pentavalent vaccines, India�s central health ministry has, this month, approved inclusion of the prophylactic cocktail in the universal immunisation programme in seven of its provinces. Pentavalents, produced by several manufacturers and promoted by the Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), has had a history of causing adverse reactions and deaths in India�s neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Pentavalents were launched in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in December 2011, but the results were not encouraging. Kerala recorded four infant deaths following vaccination, with symptoms similar to what were seen in other South Asian countries. But despite infant deaths and two pending PILs (with yet another being heard in the Delhi High Court) against pentavalents, the health ministry announced on Apr. 16 that pentavalents would be introduced in five more states - Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry in October. "Going by what we have seen in the neighbouring countries and now in the state of Kerala, pentavalents can, without warning, cause children (to suffer) hypersensitivity reactions and death," Jacob Puliyel, an eminent paediatrician at St. Stephen�s hospital in New Delhi and member of the NTAGI, told IPS. Puliyel likened the situation to penicillin sensitivity and said it bordered on criminality to be administering pentavalents without first testing a child for hypersensitivity. "Every child that is being given a dose of pentavalent vaccine is a potential victim of the adverse reaction," he said.
Ranjit Devraj, IPS

Ethical concerns on Roca et al vaccination in Gambia study

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:03:12 GMT

The study by Roca et al of the effects of community wide vaccination with PCV-7, on pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage in The Gambia, raises a large number of ethical concerns. In addition there is concern that the long term beneficial effects of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) may be reduced by proliferation of non-vaccine (NV) strains. The study involved the administration of PCV-7 to a population of adults and children over 2 years (groups who are not the primary target for vaccination and who are not likely to benefit much from the vaccine) to determine the community-wide impact of PCV-7 vaccination of the population on pneumococcal carriage in rural Gambia. The benefits to the study participants from the vaccine are minimal, while at the same time it exposed the population (at least hypothetically) to some risk from the increased proliferation of NV strains. As discussed in the subsequent paragraphs, this study apparently breaches each of the basic ethical principles of clinical research. There are grave concerns about the ethics of this study. We hope all concerned including the ethics committees involved will take responsibility for what has happened and draw appropriate lessons from it, so that the continued exploitation of poor and vulnerable communities ceases to be perpetrated in the name of medical research.
Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD Professor, PLoS Medicine